Rat Breeding Project
To learn about genetics and development, I will be breeding two rats and observing the process from birth to the age of 6 weeks when the babies will be weaned.
Preparations
To begin this project, I obtained a female rat from Doll Baby Rattery. She is a beautiful brown and white heavily marked variegated.
The Rats
Birth
I had a swim competition in Riverside, and was planning to pick up pregnant Domino on Sunday, March 30, but I got a call from Lisa on Sunday morning saying she had already given birth! Lisa reported that Domino gave birth to three babies on Saturday, and two more on Sunday. This worried me because I knew once labor starts it is rare for it to stop like that and continue the next day. Lisa said that one of the babies had passed away during or shortly after the birth, but the other was still alive (although quite a bit smaller than the other three). I picked up Domino and her four babies that night and brought them back to San Diego. I did not want to stress Domino out any more than I had too, so I left her and her litter in the travel tub.
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Day 2
Today I checked on Domino and found out that the smallest baby had passed away. The other three babies look healthy, I can see through their clear pink skin that there is milk in their stomachs. They are so tiny still, but I can tell that they are bigger than yesterday. One of the babies already has some pigment on its back. Domino is taking great care of them, and will not let me look at them for long. I checked to see what gender the babies are, it looks like they are three boys, but it is really hard to tell when they are this tiny.
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Day 3
The babies seem to have grown overnight. They are nice and plump, and have developed quite a bit of pigment! I can tell that one will be a brown or black variegated, like mom, and the other two will be lighter. The babies have also started squeaking when they want to be fed, which is about every hour or so. I can also see that the one with the most pigment has straight whiskers, while the other two have slightly curled whiskers. This can show that the straight whiskers will have a standard coat (straight hair) and the others might have rex (curly) or bristle like dad (coarse wiry)
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Day 4
I can not believe how fast the little guys are growing! Today they have even more pigment than yesterday, and I can tell that one (pictured) will be blue (light gray) like dad! All three have matching facial markings, varying in size. I decided to give the babies names today, because I am fairly sure of their gender. Three boys. Their names are Ace, Dice, and Checkers. Ace is the one that looks like mom, Dice appears to be the same color as Ace, but with less white, and Checkers (pictured) is the blue.
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Day 5
The babies are still growing quickly! Pictured is Dice, and I can tell that he will have either have a rex or bristle coat, because his whiskers are slightly curly. Dice has the most white on his face, a blaze that goes from his nose all the way to the top of his head. Checkers has a medium size blaze, which is more like a star because it does not touch his nose. Ace just has one tiny spot on the top of his head. The babies are becoming much more mobile, they started to dig around in the bedding.
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Day 6
Today the babies started getting fur! They are developing a thin layer of soft fur on their backs and heads. As you can see in the picture, Dice's hair is actually much darker than I expected. He looks more like Ace now than he looks like Checkers. They also started to lift their heads and move their legs. Domino spends the majority of her time nursing the babies, they need more food because they are growing so fast. I have been giving Domino Ensure nutrition boost every day to make sure that she is getting enough protein.
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1 Week
The babies are getting so much fur now! It seems like overnight they grew a full coat! Checkers (pictured) turned out to be a really nice color blue just like his dad. The babies have started to move around a lot more, and they are much more vocal. They squeak whenever they are hungry and Domino comes and nurses them. They are all getting quite large now, and their fur is so soft!
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Day 8
I can see now that Dice (pictured) and Checkers have slightly curly, coarse fur; called bristle coat just like their dad. Ace has a standard coat like mom. All three of the babies are starting to notice their surroundings, they will crawl around the house and feel with their whiskers where they are. They spend most of their time sleeping or eating, but they also enjoy snuggling with each other.
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Day 10
The babies opened their eyes today! Ace opened his first, and Dice and Checkers opened theirs not to long afterwards. Now that they can see, the babies have been much more active. Whenever they venture out of the house Domino still brings them back inside. It is amazing how strong her maternal instincts are. In the picture, Ace is being weighed.
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Day 11
The babies are so adventurous now, they are always crawling around the cage. They are starting to really explore their area, and have started nibbling on the food. When I pick them up now, they actually support their own weight with their legs instead of just flattening out like pancakes. They are still a little nervous to be away from mom, and mom is nervous to be away from them.
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Day 12
The babies are so adorable now that their ears are starting to stick out. They are so soft, their fur feels like velvet. They are getting to be difficult to hold because they are testing the limits of how high they can jump. They are having a good time playing with each other and are spending more and more time outside of the wooden house.
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Day 13
The babies are very curious now! Their eyes are fully open, and as you can see in the picture, their ears are starting to stand up. Domino usually sits on top of the wooden house when she wants a break from them, but they are now big enough to get up there with her. I do not think Domino is happy about this. The babies also play with each other quite a lot. I can hear them squeaking and practicing their social skills.
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2 Weeks
Domino is starting to wean the babies off of milk, and they are not too happy about that. They are very curious to try drinking out of the water bottle and eating fresh fruit, but they still love mom's milk. They are getting so large now, I am not sure how much longer they will all be able to fit inside their wooden house! In the picture you can see how big they are in comparison to Domino.
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Genetics
ratgenetics-3.pdf | |
File Size: | 170 kb |
File Type: |